Atlanta, which has been adding tech jobs at a rapid clip, will ramp up IT hiring during the first half of 2014 a little faster than the nation as a whole.

Robert Half Technology reports that 18 percent of Atlanta CIOs plan to add staff during the first six months of next year, an increase of 9 percentage points from their July-December 2013 projections. Most companies still plan only to fill vacant positions (65 percent), while 5 percent will put their hiring plans on hold and 3 percent plan to reduce headcount.

Nationally, 16 percent of CIOs said they will expand their IT teams, 67 percent will only fill vacant positions, 15 percent will put hiring plans on hold and 2 percent will reduce their tech staffing levels.

The area has seen strong IT job growth with companies like General Motors, AirWatch and Ernst & Young announcing hiring plans. Jobs in the mobile sector, health IT, digital media, software development and Internet security have proliferated.

Sixty five percent of Atlanta CIOs expect their companies to invest more money in IT projects in the coming year, up from 58 percent in the second half of 2013.

Finding workers skilled in networking, help desk/technical support and IT security are their biggest hiring challenges, they said.